Humidifier



J. E. WHITACRE.

HUMIDIFIER. APPvLICATION FILED MAR.12, 1919. 1,393,058, Patented Oct 11, 1921.

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UNITED STATES JAMES E. WHITACRE, 0F ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.

HUMIDIFIER.

I. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oet. 11, 1921.

Application Vfiled March 12, 1919. Serial No. 282,248.

Be it known that I, JAMES E.l VVHITACRE,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Rockford, in the county of INinnebago"V and State of Illinois, have invented certain new y and usefullmprovenients in Humidifiers, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention pertains in general to air moistening or liumidifyng, and while applicable wherever" it is desired to increase the humidity it has been especially designed for use in ciinec'tion with heating systems of various descriptions; It should be understood, however,'that my invention contemplates broadly the humidiying of air regaidless of 4they Vpar'ticul'a'r' ventilating or heating system-with which it'migia be used.

` 'minimaal tooheaitiiy living' Conditions, and

It is welll recognized that air when too dry while various steps have been taken to meisten the `air by Ineens ofsprays and waterv paris, especially Connection with 'heating systems privateL dwellings, there has humidifyin-g the air and for automatically,

' never been provided, so far` as I ain aware,

means 1er regulating' 'the humidity and atematieally maintaining" it.

The primary. object ofthe presentimention is tfprovidea regulable' means for humidity. That is', with my improvements the relative humidity best suited to insure the maintenance of hygienic-living 'conditions in private dwellings, hospitals and public buildings, and other places, may be properly regulated. This is accomplished by an automatically governed airmeisten device which will be presently described. have also aimed to provide a vconstruction by means of which dust-'and other impuntas win beremejved frasi the incoming Ahotheobjeet 0f' my ieveaaoa is to' p10-' vide an air-moistening device o'i"humidifier` of thechaiacter described which vshall be of low cost.

' A aiu; fumier l Qbjea ist@ 'prende a s'ired objects a' thoroughly practical and satisfactd niai'iner.v

Other o jects and attendant advantages will be appreciated as the inveitii becomes i better understood by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a -front view of a humidifier embodyingmy improvements with wall 8' removed;

Fig. 2, a vertical sectional view takenV substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

y Fig. 3, a plan view of the device; and

Fig. 4, a sectional view taken substantially on the line 4.-4 of Fig. 2. I

This particular illustration of my improvements I have taken as an example. in connection with the fresh air conduit or inlet of a hot air heating system,` although it should be understood that my improvements contemplate the moistening of` air in connection with any heating or Ventilating system. And in such various' adaptations the size, shape and proportions of the parts for eil'ecting the objects in mind would be properly suited to the conditions at hand.

In the present case, the vinlet air conduit designated generally by character has an upper inlet 6 and a lower outlet 7. The inlet and outlet ends arepreferably roundso as to register with the pipe connections oi' an ordinary hot air system; and the intermediate conduit 5 which houses the airmoistening device, has an Aenlarged crosssectional area soasnot to restrict the air passage.

able closure, such for example as a iront wall 8 which may be slid up or down on theA casing to an open position; or, if desired, this cover wall might be hinged.

Within the conduit 5, I support a series of relatively shallow water containers so arranged that the air in passing down through the conduit will follow a somewhat circuitous. course so as to pick up as much moisture as possibleyand by varying the surface area thus exposed for evaporation, I change the relative humidity or degree of saturation of the atmosphere. In the present case, a series of water Vcontainers constituting a unit are so arranged in' vertically spaced `relation that each lower container is supplied 4by overow from the next above, and the uppermost container is supplied from an automatically controlled valve.

The water containers designated by characters 9 to 13 inclusive, are relatively shallow I also prefer that the conduit 5V shall be accessible through means of asuitand held in vertically spaced relation by a suitable framework 14. The top and bottom containers 9 and 13 lrespectively Vare square and have a solid centerpvhile the intermediate containers are also square but have hollow centers so as to allow circulation of air therethrough. TheV marginal edges of the'` containers 9 and 10 are provided with smallV lips or spouts 15, for guiding the overflow to the next lower container, and .for the saine purpose the containers 11 and 12 are v.provided at their inner sides with lips or spouts 15.

My invention contemplates supporting the container vin such manner that it is capable of vertical movement within the airconduit for the purpose of actuating a valve. and thereby governing the supply ot' water. It also contemplatesthe actuationkof'this valve by reason of a change in the quantityv of water due to evaporation. To this end e I have pivotally suspended the container vsion orsupport of the container may be effected in various waysand itis desired .that the container shall be easily removable Y for purpose of cleaning. case, this is done by removingthe container .f from the'hooked'linkl). Means is now profrom the end oi' a lever 17, whichL in turn.

is xed to a horizontal rock shaft 18 suitably mountedv on the casing. This suspen- In the present vided for counterbalancing the container,

yand in the present instance I have employed. a weight 21 adjustable inwardly and. out-A wardly on the arm. 22 of the shaft 18. I have aimed to supply water to4 the container until a given surface area is presented for evaporation, and to then automatically shut.

off the supply. That is, all of the containers or a given number, will be successively filled f until a given quantity of water has been supplied. The weightot the water will then cause the container to drop and shut-offthe water supply. In this case, the watersupplied through a pipe 23 is adapted to be des Y livered through opening 24 and deflected. downwardly by a baiiie 25 into the top con-r ltainer 9. A needle valve 26 adapted to close the opening 24: passes through the lever 17 and is equipped with suitable adjusting nuts above and below the lever for-regulating-the valve action. Y

When the container "is vempty it will be held in an elevated position by the weight.

21. thus permitting the needle valve to rise.

Since the pipe 23 is connected tothe citymain or to any other source of supply, .the

vater will `be delivered through ,thefopening 241:V to the top containerv 9. 'When this. container is lilled the water will overflow.

- to the container 10 and .thence tol thelnext lower container 11, and so'von. 21 `is positioned at such distance from the.v shaft '18 as-to be overcome bythe weight The weight of the water `and container when a given quantity of water has been supplied. In other words, the water will be automatically shut 'off at fa predetermined time with relation to the quantity of water supplied.

kThus, the device may be so regulated that the valve will be closed when any given number of containers or all, have beenilled.

vIn the event -thata high relative humidity is desired, the device will be adjusted to iill all the containers, thus presenting the great- .est areafor evaporation. When a lower humidity` isI Vdesired it. will 4be obvious that less surface area will be exposed and this -will be regulated Vby adjustment of the weight 21 to cause the valve to: be shut off when the.. proper .quantity-of waterhas y been supplied. f The air passing downwardly `through the conduit' must take a circuitous course imposed by arranging the containers,

so that they constitutey bafiies, thus causing the air to bezsaturated to a greatermor less extent accordingv tothe water surface area presented.` lAs the water '.evaporates, the

container unit. will bev overbalanced bythe.

,weight 21, .thus raising the needle valve and allowing p the c containers; rto .be .replenished to V'the extent de sirefil.` Thus ,thelmatterY of jmaintaining a given surface areaofwater `for purpose of evaporation is, automatically effected and requiresfno. attentionv or `finan- .-ual, operation lfor.-replenishii1g I the containers4 or. waterpans, as is .necessary with the ordinary constructions now in use. (In addi- :tionto this'automaticaction, the humidity may be increasedorsdiminished byexposing greater orf less surfacer area for. evaporation.

This/.isespeciallydesirable, because en- .Tables .regulation'of ther humidity to la; nicety, fas it is found that undervarious.,conditions of usagegjand different temperatures the humidity must, in orderto securethe most lsatisfactory conditions, befaccordingly regulated to suit therequirements.. It will also benoted that the lwater containers-,byreason`` of their interposition in the incomingfa-ir' conduit, ,serve tocollect the, dust and other foreign particles from; the air.. To this end,

Vthe containers fare-especially effective, due -to their arrangement, causing the air to ingV from the spirity and'scope ofthe invention as expressed inv the appended, claims;

Thus the air is puriiedlcon- Y hat .the ,iforegoing conveys Y through which the air passes, a series of relatively shallow water containers in vertically spaced relation in said conduit, each container having a dili'erent surface area for evaporation and adapted to be supplied with water by overflow from the container next above, said containers constituting a unit mounted with capacity for vertical movement within the conduit, and a valve for supplying water to the uppermost container and being actuated by vertical movement of the container unit.

2. A humidifier comprising an inlet air conduit down through which the air passes, a series of relatively shallow water containers within the conduit, each container having a different surface area for evaporation, means for supplying water to said containers, and means for automatically shutting off said supply when a predetermined quantity of water has been delivered to the containers and for replenishing the containers when said quantity through evaporation is lowered.

3. A humidifier of the character described comprising an air inlet conduit down through which the air passes, a series of 'superposed shallow water containers having different surface areas within the conduit constituting a unit, means supporting said unit with capacity for vertical movement, means for supplying water to the uppermost container, the containers being so constructed that each lower container is supplied with water by overflow from the container next above, means counterbalancing the weight of said unit, and a valve in the water supply actuated by vertical movement of said unit for automatically supplying Y water thereto in accordance with the quan tity of water exposed for evaporation in said shallow containers.

JAMES E. WHITACRE. 

